Chapter 259 The Emblem Ring Theft
The Waverly family's castle was enormous. Just the second floor alone had dozens of rooms of various sizes.
William and Isabella shared one room, while Alton and Tyrell each had their own.
After arranging everything, Rosalind looked at them and said:
"I need to handle some family matters and go out for a bit. I won't be staying here tonight. If you need anything, just call the butler Elijah. I'll have the servants bring dinner up to you later. After you eat, get some rest early. I'll come back tomorrow and take you to the auction."
"Ms. Waverly, please go ahead with your business," Alton said. "We'll be fine."
Rosalind nodded and left.
After dinner, William had to join a remote meeting, forced into work mode.
Isabella lay on the bed watching William. Suddenly drowsiness hit her, and she fell asleep.
During the meeting, William suddenly heard snoring. He glanced at Isabella on the bed and saw she had fallen asleep the moment she hit the mattress. He felt a bit helpless.
He ended the meeting, walked over to cover her with the blanket, and gently patted her head before returning to his computer to continue the meeting.
——
When Isabella woke up, only a small night light was on in the room.
The blanket was tucked snugly around her, and William lay beside her.
William had one arm draped over her waist, as if afraid she might roll off the bed.
Isabella glanced at the wall clock.
3:25 AM.
Isabella frowned and sat up in bed.
She hadn't woken up naturally. She had heard a strange sound coming from somewhere in the castle, like someone chanting scriptures. The sound was distant and lingering, pressing against her mind inch by inch. Though it sounded hypnotic, Isabella felt threatened by it and instinctively resisted.
She looked at William and saw he didn't seem to be disturbed by the sound. So she quietly got out of bed, left the room, and walked toward the source of the sound.
The castle's interior was very complex. Isabella passed through a corridor, followed a spiral staircase, and went up.
She felt the sound was coming from upstairs.
After leaving the spiral staircase and winding through two hundred-meter-long corridors, Isabella saw a large hall. This hall had the same structure as the entrance hall, but it was on the third floor. There were no sofas or furniture, just a large candelabra in the center with candles of various sizes.
The candles were burning, but no wax dripped down. She didn't know what material they were made of.
Isabella guessed this hall with the candelabra should be directly above the main hall.
In other words, she had now left the guest area and entered the main hall area.
Just then, that strange sound disappeared.
Isabella moved forward into another corridor. The sound had been coming from the end of this corridor.
On both sides of the corridor were rooms of different sizes. As Isabella walked past them, she smelled the faint scent of cloves in the air, as if someone had recently passed by.
At the end of the corridor was a room, larger than all the others she had passed.
Faint light seeped through the door crack, clearly indicating someone lived there.
Isabella paused at the door for a few seconds. Not wanting to disturb anyone, she turned around and went back to her room.
For the rest of the night, she didn't hear that strange sound again and slept soundly.
——
The next morning, in the dining room, Seraphina sat eating breakfast with a dignified expression.
"Ms. Waverly, didn't you sleep well?" Elijah noticed Seraphina's complexion looked different from usual and showed concern.
Seraphina pressed her temples. "I have a bit of a headache. I don't know why."
"After breakfast, I'll have the doctor come see you."
Seraphina nodded without saying anything.
She took another sip of porridge and, as usual, reached for her coat pocket. Suddenly she realized the crest ring that should have been in her pocket was gone.
Seraphina's expression changed immediately.
She stood up as if facing a great threat. "Send word! The entire castle is on lockdown! From now on, no one is allowed to leave the castle!"
"Ms. Waverly, what happened?" Elijah looked at her in confusion.
Seraphina's face turned cold as ice. "My crest ring is missing!"
Hearing this, Elijah's expression also changed. "How could this happen? Who would be so bold as to steal your crest ring!"
"I'll have the guards lock down the castle right away!"
Elijah didn't dare delay a moment and hurried off.
The crest ring was a family token and a symbol of status.
The holder of the crest ring could access important places like the family's main hall, mobilize the family's forces, and use any of the clan's resources.
In Novaria, almost every family with a certain status had its own crest ring.
This was extremely important to the core members of a family, so they usually carried it with them at all times.
Seraphina never imagined that in her own home, something like the theft of a crest ring could happen!
Elijah came to the first floor of the castle and looked seriously at the head guard Sterling. "Ms. Waverly's crest ring has been stolen. Were there any suspicious people entering or leaving the castle last night?"
Hearing that the crest ring was missing, Sterling's pupils contracted slightly. He quickly said, "No suspicious people were found entering or leaving last night!"
"Right now, arrange a team to search every corner of the castle to see if Ms. Waverly accidentally dropped it somewhere. Also, go pull up the surveillance footage."
"Yes, I'll do it right away."
Meanwhile, Seraphina returned to her room and searched everywhere, but still couldn't find the crest ring.
Seraphina's expression grew increasingly grim.
She walked to the hall and, seeing Elijah, said coldly, "Well?"
"The guards said no one entered the castle last night, and so far, no one has left the castle either."
"A perfectly good crest ring can't just grow legs and walk away!" Seraphina said sternly. "Bring me the surveillance footage. I want to see which fool dared to steal the Waverly family's crest ring!"
Just then, Sterling had retrieved the surveillance footage and handed the screen to Seraphina.
Seraphina sat down with a dark expression and began watching last night's footage.
With just one glance, she frowned. "Why is the main hall surveillance black?"
"The main hall surveillance was tampered with," Sterling said. "But the surveillance in the guest hall and side hall is fine. I checked the footage and found a suspicious person coming out of the side hall between 3 and 4 AM, heading toward the main hall..."